Baggage handlers and security guards employed by Aviation Safeguards strike in front of British Airways Terminal 7 at the John F Kennedy airport on Thursday 12 February.
Photograph: Jana Kasperkevic for the Guardian

Contract workers at New York’s John F Kennedy airport took strike action on Thursday morning despite a recent letter sent by their employer warning of possible consequences including termination.

British Airways and United Airlines passengers arriving at JFK were greeted by a picket line of striking baggage handlers. Some people snapped photos and videos as they passed.

The workers who were on strike are employed by Aviation Safeguards, part of Command Security – a company that provides baggage handlers and security guards to various airlines at New York City’s airports. About 100 of those workers handle baggage for British Airways and United Airlines at JFK.

The reason for Thursday’s strike was the lack of union representation, low wages and a hostile working environment, say the workers. The strike also served to prove a point, as Aviation Safeguards recently sent a letter to its employees informing them of potential consequences, including termination, for striking and speaking out.

Holding signs that read “Stop Illegal Threats”, the workers marched in circles and chanted: “Airport workers under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back.”

“There have been no threats. There has been none of that,” Craig P Coy, the CEO of Command Security, told the Guardian. The letter was only intended to inform the workers of what can happen to employees who strike, under the Railway Labor Act, if the company chose to act, he said. “We want to make sure the employees are aware and not surprised by what the law is,” he said.

According to the strike’s organizers, only about three of the 27 Aviation Safeguards employees scheduled to work on Thursday morning went to work. The majority of the 24 employees went on the strike – the remaining handful opted to call in sick.

Aviation Safeguards challenged those numbers.

“I am not there but what I was told is that we had a few people went out this morning but they are back to work and most of the people out there do not work for us,” Coy said a little after noon.

At that time about 50 people – some wearing Aviation Safeguards winter coats – were still marching in circles outside Terminal 7.

An Aviation Safeguards employee shows off his pins supporting the 32BJ SEIU union. Photograph: Jana Kasperkevic for the Guardian

“I am not saying there aren’t any employees out there. I am just saying that my experience has been that most of them are not,” Coy said.

By late afternoon some of the protesters were spotted by the Guardian wearing bright yellow vests on top of their coats and working.

While capturing the attention of arriving passengers, the strike didn’t seem to disrupt the airlines’ services.

“Our flights are operating as normal. Aviation Safeguards has assured us there will be no disruption to our customers’ service,” a British Airways spokesperson told the Guardian.

‘We should be paid a lot better’

Pedro Gamboa Bermudez, 58, joined the picket line at 6am. Instead of working his seven hour shift from 4am to 11am, he marched outside demanding better working conditions. Bermudez has been working for Aviation Safeguards for four and half years as a baggage handler. Most often he works for British Airways loading bags on the conveyor belt so that they can be X-rayed by the TSA.

When he started working for Aviation Safeguards, Bermudez was making $8 an hour. Thanks to a recent ruling by Port Authority, he and about 12,000 other contractors’ employees now make $10.10 an hour. The increase was a victory but not enough, protesters said.

The workers need a living wage to make ends meet in New York, said state senator James Sanders Jr, who came out to provide his support to the strike.

“We really don’t have a target price but we do know because of the value of our work that we should be paid a lot better for what we do,” said Bermudez. “We know that the airlines, not only do they make millions, they make billions, billions of dollars. We don’t get to see nothing.”

International Airlines Group, owner of British Airways, is aiming for operating profit of €1.8bn – equivalent to £1.41bn and US$2bn – in 2015, according to Reuters.

The protest is just the latest in a series organized by 32BJ SEIU union, which hopes to represent the contractors’ employees in the near future.

“Welcome again to John F Kennedy airport, the largest sweatshop in NYC, where people work in poverty wages, multiple jobs, don’t have healthcare, have their rights violated,” said Rob Hill, vice president of 32BJ. “What this strike today is about, we got to teach a bully a lesson. That bully is Aviation Safeguards, who hasn’t gotten a message that airport workers have woken up … The airport workers aren’t going to work without dignity anymore.”

The union’s involvement in these strikes is a cause of frustration to Aviation Safeguards.

In May 2014, 3,800 contractors’ employees voted to be represented by 32BJ, according to the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal. The union says that Aviation Safeguards employees were part of the vote. Bermudez remembers participating in the vote and so does Gian Lopez, who is employed by Aviation Safeguards as baggage handler for Delta.

Coy insists that no vote by Aviation Safeguards employees took place.

“There is no recognition of this union. They don’t represent the employees. If employees want to vote for them, they should vote for them and follow the process. We support the employees,” said Coy, pointing out that the company provided healthcare, benefits and supported the recent increase to $10.10.

Gian Lopez, an Aviation Safeguards employee, works as a baggage handler for Delta at LaGuardia airport. He joined the Thursday rally after his shift, wearing a new coat provided by his employer. Photograph: Jana Kasperkevic for the Guardian

Bermudez, striking for the first time, said the company healthcare was too expensive. “I didn’t enrol for the one they offered me because if I enrol, I am not making enough to pay for it and I would not have anything to support myself,” he explained.

The John F Kennedy baggage workers employed by Aviation Safeguards were joined by other employees including security guards and baggage handlers from LaGuardia, who came on their day off or after their shift.

Among them was Lopez. As he walked over, Lopez was wearing a bright red and blue NY Giants hat and a brand new Aviation Safeguards coat.